Vancouver-based University of British Colombia Gets Its First Bitcoin Club

Students from the University of British Colombia (UBC) create the UBC Bitcoin Club to educate their friends and classmates about cryptocurrencies.

Students in Canada are gathering all over the country to initiate projects aiming to promote digital currencies. Back in August, Colombia-based Simon Fraser University (SFU) became the first Canadian higher-education institution to accept donations in Bitcoin. Today, it is the turn of British Colombia's largest university, the Vancouver-based University of British Colombia, to get its Bitcoin Club.

Established in September at UBC’s Vancouver campus, the UBC Bitcoin Club "seeks to provide an environment where bitcoin-related ideas, projects, programs, events, and businesses can be studied and grown," reads the website's homepage.

The club's efforts are split into 4 main elements: education and engagement through events; merchant adoption by facilitating the adoption of Bitcoin as a payment method by on-campus merchants; mentorship through connecting members with leading professionals in the industry; and on-campus incubator by providing seed capital to on-campus, student-ran, Bitcoin businesses.

Along with these ambitions, Cross hopes UBC would eventually accept Bitcoin as a payment method for tuition and bookstore sales. In fact, he believes the technology fits perfectly with the university as it combines many academic fields, including computer science, economics, finance, law and marketing.

"UBC, it’s in their best interest to bridge that gap with the future and get with the times, so to speak."

Recently, many projects have been undertaken to educate the masses about digital currency. Coin Academy launched on September 1, its learning website providing educational content on digital currency-related topics. This week, the organization announced it had partnered up with College Cryptocurrency Network (CCN) to provide the organization with original courses.

International non-profit organization the College Cryptocurrency Network was announced in June as an organization that aims to assist in the formation of a network of college cryptocurrency clubs.

When asking whether the UBC Bitcoin Club was considering joining CCN, Cross told CoinTelegraph in an email communication the organization was "currently finalizing the paperwork to make their partnership with College Cryptocurrency Network official."